Der Heimat
by RedBarron
Summary: When everything Double-D has ever known is swept away in one monstorous tragedy, he will find himself working for the perpetrators. He will have to engage in a fierce struggle between survival and his old friends. Set in non-specific time period.
1. Chapter 1

There was not a sound in the suburbs. The night was still and dark. A hushed and quiet calmness presided all around as the melodious and soothing sound of an orchestra of crickets harmonized and filled the air. Pure bliss to the half-asleep boy genius laying on his bed. He smiled to himself as he basked in his euphoric revelry of nature which he so often studied under a microscope. But it wasn't just the constant chirping of crickets that made him so giddy. He had just got his first real job as a clerk in a local pharmacy. Sure, the hours were long and the pay was modest, but it was an income nonetheless. He suddenly gained a step of independence he had sought since he started attending the University.

At first his plans had been more ambitious. He wanted to rent his own apartment near the campus where he was attending and own his own car. Just about as gun-ho as any kid who gets out high-school is. But because of the set-backs in the economy those plans were quickly put into perspective as the price of housing sky-rocketed. Still he was not discouraged. He knew that all things must past, and this was no exception. So as for now, he thought about the future as he lay quite snugly in his room he had occupied since he was five.

He felt his eye-lids get heavy and the darkness began to creep around the outer-rim of his vision. But suddenly, he was startled awake. In the distance the menacing sound of airplane motors radiated through the sky. He was suddenly filled with a dazed since of worry. He had heard planes go over head before, but not in the volume or magnitude that he heard now. He opened his eyes and cautiously went to the window to investigate the sound. Overhead the roar of the motors became intensely loud. The black sky obscured their appearance, and only by the noise could he disseminate where they were. He made a rough estimate that about 10-20 planes flying towards the east. "What could they be?" he asked aloud, half expecting some answer to be given. As the noise became louder, a knot formed in his stomach. In the back of the mind he raced with fear, but he kept his composure as he peered outside and listened to the air-planes. Soon they were the closest they had been. The wind could be heard buzzing off the propellers. Then, just as it had started, it became fainter, fainter, until the planes vanished into the night where they had come from. "Strange..." he remarked as he set himself down and breathed a sigh of relief. "You get to frightened," he scorned himself, "you do the same thing with lightning storms. You always expect the worse." He said these words to scorn himself, but secretly it was to reassure himself as his hands were still trembling from anxiousness.

He climbed back in his bed and began to try to consul his mind enough that he could go to bed. He had a test tomorrow, and it was important that he not miss it. How much he loathed that class sometimes. The teacher was so sporadic. A little here, a little there, and then piles on the homework. He hated not knowing what was coming or going as the teacher often changed her assignments around and butchered his scheduled agenda which he kept in such good order. At one point he erased so much the page tore. "Stupid old fuddy...duddy..." he loathed as he gave out a rather large yawn. Then, he heard the buzz again. It had returned. This time his heart was quite at ease. "Returning so soon?" he asked half-jokingly. Only this time, it wasn't the huge armada. It was just a faint distorted whistle of sorts. He listened a moment at the strange buzz that from the confines of his room resembled the buzz from a hearing test. Gradually the buzz became higher pitched. Higher, higher, until it became a faint whistle. Then the whistle started descending and started to get louder. Edd sprang from his bed now scuttling over to the window yet again. Suddenly the whistle became a siren than rang a terrifying alarm. From out of seemingly nowhere, the siren became deafening loud as it descended upon Edd who now ducked for cover. Before the siren could reached it's climax however, there was a thunderous explosion. Dust and debris filled the air all around the neighborhood as it let out a deafening "bang!" followed by the hollow cracking of tree bark and limbs.

As the dust cleared, Edd made his way through the haze that now covered his entire house. He stumbled down the staircase, frantically trying to make his way to the front door. He delicately grasped the oaken railing as he had so many times before and turned immediately left into the hall-way leading to the front door. He felt a panic suddenly sweep over him, as he bolted to the door, keeping his ear keenly focused on hearing another whistle. Then he heard his mother's voice calling from within his parent's bedroom. "Eddward!" she yelled as she went into a coughing fit because, "Eddward!" she cried out again, her voice now very hoarse.

"I'm right here mother! I am going outside!"

"Don't you dare leave this house young man or you're grounded!"

The threat was ignored as he opened the front door and walked into cul-de-sac. There a host of other citizens were making their ways through the now dispersing dust. Then he heard the voice of his long time associate pierce the silence, "What the hell just happened?" Out of the dust came the lowly and squatted figure of Eddy. His eyes were squinting and he was thoroughly vexed by the confusion of the situation.

"Eddy!" Double-D called.

He heard the voice through the shadows and began to make his way towards it. "Double-D?"

"They finally came into each others view as most of the dust was now gone revealing a huge crater the circumference of about 50 feet and the depth of about 2 feet peering up from the middle of the cul-de-sac. Beneath it was the smoldering ruins sewer line which had ruptured but what seemed to be an explosion, causing a foul stench to permeate the air.

"Jesus!" Eddy exclaimed. "What the hell is happening?"

"Hell if I should know." Eddward retorted. Beginning is junior high they had grown more lenient with the amount of cussing they did around each other.

Suddenly the whistling returned. Double-D didn't think, he was being driven on pure adrenaline. He lunged on Eddy screaming, "Hit the Deck!" Another explosion detonated with another ferocious "Bang!" and filled the air with debris yet again. Only this time, it was much more extensive. When Double-D looked up from the ground towards his dwelling he only saw the silhouette of what appeared to be his house. But as the dust rolled away, he realized, it wasn't there. As it dawned on him, the only words he could utter was, "Mom...Dad..."


	2. Chapter 2

On the far side of the cul-de-sac lay nothing but a devastated and smoldering mound of ruins that use to be Eddward's house. Bits and pieces of insulation were lying half exposed from the dirt and the fresh timber that use to compose the house's foundation now was now gently burning with with fire. As the smoke cleared, it showed that only the left side of the house had been spared. Its support beams were the only thing holding up about 10 feet of roof and below that, were the remains of the second floor collapsed into, where the sink and the counter that use to be the kitchen.  
Eddward ran to his mother and father, whom last he had saw while he sprinted out of the house. As his bruised legs dashed over the pavement his mind slowly became more desperate, more devoted, more determined than ever before. He hoped, he wished that what he was seeing was not true. That in a few moments, he would wake up in his bed, and find the sun to be shining again. Tears welled in his eyes as his the grim reality of what had just happened started to set in. As he approached the side-walk, he called out their names over the depredation, "Mom! Dad!". No answer. He kicked through the earth mound of rubble still calling their names. He shifted through the dirt with his own bare hands. They had to be here, they had to be alive. He dug through until the earth collapsed around him into a small pit, only to reveal the horror. There, laying mangled on what had once been the floor of his house, were his own beloved parents.

For a moment or two, he didn't know how to respond. His mind raced, trying to find an answer. The horribleness of it all, the sheer madness. And suddenly, he found himself repeating that in a whisper, his lips quivering and his voice crackling, "Madness, madness, madness..." his voice rose in tempo until he bawled up his right fist and cursed into the sky and then fell prostrate in a fit of grief only being able to sob the word "no".

He was so stricken, he did not hear the footsteps behind him. His two comrades straddled his shoulders. "Double-D!" Eddy said in distress, "We have to get out of here now!"  
He was barely able to voice a reply over his own choking sobs. "My-y-y, my parents, they're...they're both dead!" he screamed at last.  
"Listen to me!" Eddy said as he shook him and looked him in the eyes, "We're are all going to die if we don't find shelter. I knew you're parents, both very strong people. I could tell they had a passion, a drive, a will to survive. You know this?" Edd was only able to nod his head.

"They would have wanted you to go on living. To move on. Let's go, that one day we might avenge their deaths!"

Double-D looked down into his shirt only shaking his head. After a moment, through a whispered sniffle he replied, "Okay...". Both Ed and Eddy then helped to raise him up by his arms and help him get out of the rubble. As they stumbled down the mound, the distant pounding of bombs radiated through the air as the horizon filled with the amber red of fires. As the muffled and anguished screaming of other victims sounded out into the night, over the whistling of bombs and the scream of the bombers, Edd couldn't help the feeling of dismay rising up in side of him. But for the moment, he stood with his friends, and looked on the ecstasy of death that lay before him.

For some reason, a strange thing kept them hypnotized to the carnage. Was it the grimness of the bombs exploding that was so reminiscent of the fireworks from the Fourth of July? Or something else? Whatever the cause, they stood there in awed terror, witnessing war in it's most personal and brutal form. At one point Eddward mumbled underneath his breath, "My God...".

After a few more moments of solitary reflection Eddy turned to the two of them, "We should go somewhere."

"Where?" Ed asked

"Don't know. But we need to get out of here. They might come back." Eddy looked around at the now abandoned cul-de-sac, with it's empty houses devoid of any life, and broken glass over all of it's lawns. "My parents were the first to go. Didn't even look back to see if I was behind them. Figures." he said with a huff.

By now, Edd had regained his composure, although he still carried the marks of his previous anguish by talking in a low and stiffened voice, "Do any of you have a radio? Probably need one to communicate when all this is over."

"I do." Ed replied. Eddy nodded and the two of started to jog behind them to his house. Over the past few years Ed became a new person, in a good sense. About half way into their sophomore year in high-school he had really buckled down on his studies after a devastating report card. He cleaned his room (a great under-taking comparable to cleaning of Chernobyl), got new clothes, bathed regularly, and overall had become sharper in general. Though he still managed to be lovable oaf he had always been when he was around his pals.

When they got to the familiar window leading into the basement, Edd quickly undid the latch and nimbly flew right inside. It was all but two seconds before he snatched his portable radio laying on the table next to his closet and bolted up the stairs and out the front door. "Alright", Eddy said, "Let's roll em' out and get out of here."

They started to walk towards the woods on the far side of the neighborhood, into the "nature trail" that led from their houses all the way to a very secluded spot where the creek's source was located. Each of them was carrying a flashlight that Ed had brought along with his radio and flashed it across the narrow dirt path as they went farther into the woods as the sounds of dying soon faded into the background. As they walked, they all realized what had happened, but they also realized, that nothing would ever be the same. The cul-de-sac, their home since childhood, had been ripped away from them by night-time marauders, and the path they now led, only went farther into the black abyss of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

The three companions slowly ambled on the treacherous path through the foreboding "Western Wood". It was an ancient place where the trees were tall and wide. Its many branches formed a canopy of shadow that blanketed the ground, and made it difficult to see the dilapidated and winding road that was rarely trodden.

Gloomy and disheartening, it appeared as though the woods were slowly getting closer... Like a set of hands slowly clasping around them, the haunting apparitions of the night seemed to add to the illusion of being crushed by darkness from all around. But with the thoughts of death so keenly presiding over the three, despair was all but inevitable. They felt it setting in, but were too afraid to say anything. The thoughts of anxiety seemed to strangle all prospects of being hopeful. As their willingness to wish for the better gasped for air under the surface, none of them dared to pry away despair's icy hands. Would they try? No one did. Should they try? No one moved. Or would it be better to lay on the sodden earth below them and wait for their flesh to fall away and their bones to turn into dust, until all the sadness of life dissipated in an endless of blackness? But none of them fell over prostrate and begged for death.

They continued to walk on the path, their feet becoming heavier with every step, as they trudged away from the ruins of their existence, and the horror that had so aptly forsaken them, until they came to a gentle rising slope and an open hearth of sorts. Then they came across something that penetrated out of the blinding darkness that lay all around them. Peering through the towering tree tops, one singular beam of lunar light channeled down and illuminated part of the wood's floor. Its noble splendor, so majestic yet quaint, captivated the crestfallen wanderers. Wanderers whose souls had seemingly been shattered and whose purpose in life was now seemingly meaningless, gazed in a strange fascination and wonderment at the crystal specter that shone so brightly before them.

On the ground, where the moon's light shone, there was perched upon a few smooth rocks covered in moss, a budding flower that lay in half bloom state. It's pedals sparkled with dew that illuminated it's vibrant color. It's roots were healthy and strong, and dug deep in the furrowed earth. It carried a strange appearance amidst the darkness and the hostile environment of the pine-laden woods that law all around. It's delicate tendency, so charming in quality, hailed like a light house to the boys, who drifted like ships lost in a sea of turmoil and distress. Indeed, the three couldn't help but stare at it for the longest time, admiring it's beauty and rarity. And suddenly, they realized those clouds of despair had evaporated beneath the veil of purity that overcame it with it's bright rays of benevolence and love that slowly began to realize that they could hope again. That all goodness had not yet. And deep inside they felt sweltering up in their bosoms, that vibrant force that so compels a human to live. To vow to see another day. To right the wrongs of a world saturated in sin, and to see the dawn rise above all that was evil and cruel.

As they continued to glare, the sun began to slowly rise in the east. A purple shroud bedecked the sky as the tiniest rays of light gleamed over the horizon. Eddy, who know stood with his shoulders astute, pulled himself up and realized that they hadn't reached their destination yet that lay on the long road ahead of them. "We should get going." Eddy said at last. The two other companions nodded. And continued to trudge behind their _de facto_ leader. Though they still had no idea what lay ahead of them, and the path was still treacherous, they braced themselves for the new day with spirits uplifted. For whatever lay ahead of them.


End file.
